Shuffling the Deck
by In Stiches
Summary: A collection of various Yu-Gi-Oh! Drabbles based on various inspirations. Accepting challenges and requests on tumblr. Link on profile.
1. To Jigger, Paradox

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Yu-gi-oh! I would have thrown out half the ridiculous dialogue.

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To Jigger - Rearrange or tamper with

Paradox – (1) A statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable

premises, leads to a conclusion that...

(2) A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained

may prove to be well founded or true.

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He had had it for what seemed like forever, as if he'd been born with it. As such, he had not even thought about it when he packed it for the orphanage. In a strange way it was means to hold on to what had been, just as much as having Mokuba's small hand latched on to his. With the knowledge that the golden rod and his little brother were still with him, the building in front of them was just a little less foreboding.

He, of course, was not a fool even as young as he was to not know of its dark power. The comprehension of what the item was, like the rod itself, seemed to have been with him for as long as he had been alive and he would readily use it to its full potential. He would keep his promise of a better life to Mokuba if he had to sell his soul to carve out a place for them.

That was why he was here, seated acrossed Kaiba Gozabura, a game of chess between them. He, that is Seto, fingered the top the Millennium Rod in well concealed anticipation, letting his already cold blue eyes survey the smug CEO before him.

"Care for a Shadow Game, Kaiba?"

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The measure of a man is what he does with power.

- Greek Proverb

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He had tried to justify the cry of dismay and shocked self-rage that rang out in the deepest corner of his mind as he ripped the forth Blue-eyes in half. It was a powerful card, not to mention how rare and pricy it was, but all that did not quite cover the mournful calls that issued from some buried part of him.

To tell the truth, he wasn't really paying attention to that voice anyways. He was more –barely – concerned with the spiky haired teen, the old man, and the peanut gallery gathered around him then phantom voices most likely cased by stress from his demanding position as CEO of Kaiba Corp.

_Then he lost._

Then **he** lost.

Then he lost

As the teen who called himself Yugi Moto shattered the darkness that surrounded his heart like ice along with what was left of his mental state, the voice called out again. Not in pain or shock, but in a strange sense of triumph and recognition. The recognition remained even as Yugi's oddly angled eyes followed him into unconsciousness; holding on to that image as if they were one of the only familiar things in a strange place.

When he began to put his life in back in order, though the thought of those odd circumstances cropped up often, he pushed then away. He was a rational man and not a believer in ancient destinies. The words of a teenager with alternate personality disorder or the spouting of a mad woman had no effect on him. As far as he was concerned it was just as real as the dragon in his favorite card.

That buried part of him thought that was ironically funny.

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A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.  
>-Jean de La Fontaine<p>

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	2. Dead Duck

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! All the characters would have kept their Japanese names.

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Dead Duck – a person or thing that is ruined or certain to suffer ruin, failure, or death.

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They knew it would end like this.

They did it anyway.

Their friendship with Atem was doomed from the start, guarantied to rip a whole in everyone's heart. Those who were the closest to the Pharaoh would walk away with gaping wounds that would never heal. Those who weren't would still walk with a limp, a missing part of what they once had suddenly gone.

They had done it anyway.

Anzu wondered if they all were masochists.

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The loss of a friend is like that of a limb. Time may heal the anguish of the wound, but the loss cannot be repaired.

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Yugi was dying in his arms. Crimson blood stained everything: the ground, their clothes, and Ryou's hands as he fruitlessly applied pressure to the young man's wounds. It gathered in eerie puddles in navy fabric and on grey concrete. From the moment the wound was struck they both knew it wound be too late, but Ryou kept pressing.

Yugi smiled drowsily and patted the crimson stained pale hands, silently trying to comfort the young man.

_It's alright now _

_I'm fine _

_Everything is okay_

"But it's not, Yugi," Ryou whimpered as hazy violet eyes closed forever, "It's not okay."

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How frighteningly few are the persons whose death would spoil our appetite and make the world seem empty

-Eric Hoffer

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	3. Aphonia, Apterous

**Disclaimer**

I do not own this lovely show

I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

I do not own it here or there

I do not own it anywhere!

(And I don't own Green Eggs and Ham either)

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Aphonia – loss of voice; inability to produce vocal sounds

Apterous- lacking wings

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They didn't speak. They couldn't. They simply stared at each other over the refreshment table, Anzu's ocean blue eyes locked with his brown. He'd half expected angry accusations to be in those eyes and not the grim cocktail of pity, sadness, and strange thankfulness that was.

When the silence was broken between them, it was Anzu who shattered it. Her words were only a whisper, but he could here then as though she had shouted them.

"Thank you, Bakura, for being there. He wouldn't have wanted to die alone."

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Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying

-Martin Luther

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It was a rather nice night, warm, with a faint breeze that was almost fresh. The moon was half full and the stars were slightly visible through the lights and smog of the city. Here on her New York apartment building's roof, tucked in an old blanket to ward off the slight fall chill in the wind, she could almost pretend **he** never existed in her life. She could almost lose herself in the sky.

Her legs dangled off the edge, swinging through midnight air as she sat gazing at the hidden stars; surprised they were even showing. The sky here rarely showed the shimmering, burning gas unlike dear old Domino City. While the sky was still technically the same it just wasn't like home. It couldn't be the same sky, it was worlds away – the star had to be different, the heavens a different shade of blue.

She had gone stargazing once with Yugi when they were kids. They'd sat on the roof of the Kame Game Shop with Yugi's Grandpa listening in awe to the old man weave ancient stories about the constellations that he'd heard on his travels. Those stars were brighter, happier, and less lonely. Those stars held precious memories she'd never forget – or replace. Those stars reminded her of the simplicity of life before the Pharaoh, before millennium puzzle, before the death defying duels. Those stars reminded her of the happier times before he left.

Now with Atem gone, and her friends not around, Anzu never felt so alone – so flightless. The wings her determination had given her to fly to her dreams fell away, leaving a butterfly without colors. Those stars seemed so far away in the black. Those stars had long since turned to cold black and white pictures of someone else's life.

So she sat, clipped to the point not even stubs remained of her wings, stuck with stars that held no love, no life, and no meaning.

She could almost lose herself in the sky.

Almost

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It's curious how we act in moments of personal despair.

- Lawrence Welk

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	4. Katzjammer, Unexpected

**Disclaimer**

I fear I must apologize

By now you must have realized

Yu-gi-oh! sadly is not mine

But since you're here, I guess its fine

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Katzenjammer – (1) Confusion; uproar

(2) A hangover; a severe headache resulting from a hangover

Unexpected - Not expected or regarded as likely to happen

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Somebody should have warned him.

As it turned out, Egyptians love their beer.

In an attempt to convince six worried priest and one apprentice he was fine and not let on to his total memory wipe he'd quaffed down enough to make his head spin. It was successful in a majority, though Priest Seth was still giving him funny looks by the end of the night.

(He couldn't be sure though, everything was a little blurry by then.)

Now he lay on his ridiculously uncomfortable bed in his ridiculously bright room, with a headache so fierce he was mentally damning the creator of beer to the shadowrealm and back again.

_Somebody should have warned him._

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I feel sorry for the people who don't drink. They wake up in the morning, and that's the best they are going to feel all day.

- Dean Mart

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This was unexpected.

He had not seen this coming.

Yet here he was baking brownies with Jonouchi in the comfort of his own kitchen.

Yugi glanced at his friend. The blonde was humming happily while mixing chocolate chips into smooth brownie batter. He had a smudge of flour ghosted over his and chocolate on his chin form munching on the leftovers of the last batch; Yugi had never seen him happier.

"Hey, hand me that brownie pan Yugi."

"Oh, sure Jonouchi"

The pan exchanged hands and Yugi watched silently as the blond unceremoniously dumped the batter into it. Scraping the sides of the mixing bowl, Jonouchi valiantly strived to remove all stubborn remnants. Then, when all possible brownie batter was smoothed into the pan, it was placed in the preheated oven.

Quite seriously for Jonouchi, Yugi was handed the batter covered spoon.

He accepted graciously.

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Some things are so unexpected that no one is prepared for them.

- Leo Rosten

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	5. Eyes

**Disclaimer: **if I owned Yu-Gi-Oh! Anzu would give less friendship speeches

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Eye – (1) Each of a pair of globular organs in the head through which people and vertebrate animals see.

(2) Look at or watch closely or with interest

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Yugi had purple eyes, or at least he used to.

These eyes could not be his, these eyes of a mad man - eyes of flame. These eyes that looked into a soul and judged what he saw to be too dark to be spared. These eyes that took pleasure in the punishment he bestowed.

Yugi hated violence, or at least he used to.

These eyes watched as people burned. These eyes glimmered with bloodlust. These eyes craved defeat of his enemies, to have them on their knees before him. These eyes bared the crimson of fresh blood.

These eyes doused in liquid ruby, liquid gemstone.

Yugi's eyes were purple.

These eyes weren't Yugi's.

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The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter - often an unconscious, but still a truthful interpreter - in the eye.

- Charlotte Bronte

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Malik often felt as though he was being watched. It was ridiculous and stupid so he said nothing about it going out of his way to avoid the room where its foreboding eye stared at him. His sister and adopted brother saw nothing of this and if his father noticed he ignored.

He just couldn't stand the way it seemed to follow him, pressing his upcoming duty into his face and burning holes into his back when he turned away from it.

That wasn't even the worst part.

He also hated they way it seem to whisper in its stare. A dry twisted voice, one far too close to his own rang often in his ears.

_Dear fool boy, I've got plans for you. _

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What potions have I drunk of Siren tears  
>Distill'd from limbecks foul as hell within<br>Applying fears to hopes, and hopes to fears,  
>Still losing when I saw myself to win!<p>

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	6. Comfort

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh! If I did Alister would be related to Leon and his brother , they look so much alike.

**Dedication: **This chapter is for Mewtwomaster58 by request. It might not be what you were looking for but I hope you like it anyway!

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Concern – (1) Caring feelings: a feeling of worry, compassion, sympathy, or regard for somebody or something

(2) Relevant affair: a matter that affects somebody or that somebody has the right to be involved with

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Valon had long ago learned that obtaining relevant advice, sympathy, or even general caring from Alister was like pulling a rabbit from a _stone_.

Impossible

The last time he'd tried connecting to the red-head, the man had simply shrugged off his questions and given him the worst possible advice for the problem.

"Get laid."

Totally irrelevant

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Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties.

**-**Aesop  
>.<p>

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He did not often involve himself in Valon's affairs; he didn't even enjoy the brunette's company. His longing gazes toward Mai and his comparatively sunny disposition were found irksome with time. Besides, Valon preferred Rafael's or said Mai's companionship to his and Alister liked to keep to himself.

He wasn't a people person.

So he had no idea how to deal with a fool lover boy and his ridiculous crush.

Nothing of Alister's previous experiences with emotional connections was even slightly related to the type of love the brunette was victim to. The only thing he could think of was to tell the man to get laid.

He fully expected the glare that came next.

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Sex is a bad thing because it rumples the clothes.

-Jackie Kennedy

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><strong><br>**


	7. Disillusion

**Disclaimer: **if I owned Yu-gi-oh! Teana would have a place in the story line for the show

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Disillusion- to cause somebody to realize that an ideal is false or a belief is mistaken

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Teana stared sullenly out at the city, plucking petals systematically from blue lotuses she had painstakingly preserved a little over a year ago. They had been a gift – from _him_. Now instead of a symbol of a lover close to the heart, in was a bittersweet reminder of what she could not have.

He'd said he was important and she hadn't fully understood; she paid the full price for her ignorance. She had assumed he was the son of a priest perhaps or a high-ranking scribe.

Not the Prince, never the Prince

Before his interest was unbelievable, a dream. With the truth shown it was impossible.

Teana watched the petals float away in the breeze.

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Oftentimes we say goodbye to the person we love without wanting to. Though that doesn't mean that we've stopped loving them or we've stopped to care. Sometimes goodbye is a painful way to say I love you.

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Bright green eyes looked to their companion. In unusual silence, the owner of those eyes studied the young man, causing him to shift uneasily and cast a questioning glance.

Mana simply shook her head.

"I can't be the only one who thinks it…"

"Thinks what?"

Mana gives him a well practiced dead-pan look.

"That you have really odd hair."

Prince Atem lets out an exasperated sigh.

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You're only as good as your last haircut.

- Fran Lebowitz  
>…<p>

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	8. Impossible

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! All characters would have kept their Japanese names.

**Dedication: **This chapter is for Christmas Roses. Thank you for your lovely review and your challenge. I hope you like it!

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Impossible – (1) Not possible; incapable of being done, of existing, etc

(2) unattainable in the nature of things or by means at command

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Things had ceased to amaze Yugi.

He'd lived through so much, dealt with so much, and done so much that most would consider absurdly beyond the realm of possibility that normal life now seemed so flat.

He spent his days in a blur of monochrome, nothing exiting – nothing breathtaking.

Don't get him wrong, he didn't miss all that life-threatening danger. He could go on forever without missing it. It was simply that without it daily life wasn't restive – it was boring.

Witnessing the impossible did that to you.

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No one ever gets far unless he accomplishes the impossible at least once a day.

- Elbert Hubbard

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"This is impossible."

Jonouchi smirked, proud of the accomplishment he had achieved today.

"Look and weep, rich-boy!"

Cold blue eyes glared at the black knight pinning his king, before transferring his glare to the blond grinning in front of him.

"That was just dumb luck."

Jonouchi's smirk grew wider.

"That's what I'm known for!"

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Man can believe the impossible, but can never believe the improbable

- Oscar Wilde

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	9. Irate, Fascination

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Don't you think I'd be Japanese?

**Warning: **Bakura is playing chess as well

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Irate - Extremely angry; enraged

Fascination - the exercise of a powerful or irresistible influence on the affections or passions

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Bakura glared at the little black pawn innocently sitting in front of his King. Then, board of that task, he rose his glare to the real culprit.

Yami raised a brow.

"Problem?"

Bakura chucked the chess piece at him.

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Don't get the impression that you arouse my anger. You see, one can only be angry with those he respects.

Richard M. Nixon

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Honda let out a low appreciative whistle, as the owner of a classic red motorcycle pulled up the sidewalk. With a laugh and a toss of platinum hair, Malik swung his leg over the bike, rising to greet the brunette.

"Been awhile, huh?"

Honda nodded absently, eyes glued to the motorcycle. The Egyptian rolled his eyes in mock exasperation before handing over the keys. Honda gleefully accepted the metal and to croon over the bike as he revved it up just to hear it purr.

"You know, I'm beginning to think you like my bike more than me."

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Driving a motorcycle is like flying. All your senses are alive.

**-**Hugh Laurie 

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	10. Spoil

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Seto Kaiba would have a bat cave.

**Dedication: **This chapter in for Christmas Roses for yet another lovely review and a new challenge.

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Spoil – (1) Diminish or destroy value or quality of

(2) Goods stolen or taken forcibly

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Technically, the card was useless. No duelist would ever be able to use it again now that it was torn on two.

Sugoroku Mutou kept it anyway.

Seto Kaiba could have taken a flame thrower to it and he would have kept the ashes.

Nothing could make it useless to his heart.

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Not all treasure is silver and gold

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Kisara moved through life with no other possessions then the clothes on her back. But that didn't mean no one could steal from her.

The parents that abandon her stole her childhood.

The villagers who hated and feared her stole her home.

The cruel world stole her happiness.

The thieves who captured her stole her freedom.

And finally, the blue-eyed boy who gave her back her freedom stole the one thing she never thought she could lose.

Her heart

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All my life, my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name.

**- **Andre Breton

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	11. Overshadow, Abnegate

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Bakura –the real one, not Yami Bakura- would have a bigger part in the show.

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Overshadow – exceed in importance

Abnegate –deny to one's self

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Yugi was one of those kinds of people who could disappear. He didn't really command attention. It was only after the millennium puzzle was finished that people even _saw_ him.

The spirit of the millennium puzzle was a whole different type of person all together. People had to notice him, his very presence demanded it. He was the one people turned to, listen to, fell for.

He eclipsed Yugi entirely, even during those times the boy had no idea he existed at all. It made sense Anzu would love him.

That didn't mean, of course, that it didn't hurt.

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You may not love me today, tomorrow, or ever, but I will love you until it kills me, and even then, you'll be in my heart

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Sometimes Ryou woke in the dark for no reason.

No reason at all

Accept the lingering feeling that someone or something was watching him.

It crept into his dreams, tainted them into nightmares. Whatever the dream was before suddenly turned nothing but the burning of a wicked gaze on his person. They shook him awake. They were so real he had to check his room before falling asleep, as a child checks for monsters under the bed.

Every night it would be the same.

"Your imaging things." He'd tell himself.

Then ignore the part of him that disagreed.

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Only the self-deceived will claim perfect freedom from fear.

- Bill W.

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	12. Requital, Mendacity

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Jonouchi would have beaten Seto, just so I could see the C.E.O.'s face as he did so

**Warning: **Dark! Spirit of the puzzle

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Requital - A justly deserved penalty

Mendacity - Untruthfulness

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"We could take them, make them pay – we could do it together." It was probably the closest his new other self could get to begging. Yugi refused to be swayed however, holding firm to his decision and not approving of the twisted forms of justice the spirit thrived on. It was getting harder though, with every sting of every bruise as it was treated, to ignore the whispering voice that inhabited the back of his mind since the completion of the Millennium Puzzle.

"I hate violence." Yugi reaffirmed to the voice. Gently, he applied salve to a vicious bruise on his cheek. Even as he concentrated on the bruise he got the impression that his other self was offended by the comment.

"_I'm_ not violent. My games are _not_ violent."

"Oh? I seem to remember a knife being involved in one of them."

A little sulky, the voice replied, "_He _brought it and I had just been woken."

"You sound like someone blaming crankiness on the morning." Yugi observed in turn, capping the salve jar. He paused as a wave of irritation from the spirit flushed over him before he pushed it away.

"You _know _what I mean, I'm…_better_ now. Besides those _thugs_ deserved it, they needed to be set right." The voice was almost complaining. Yugi thought if it had a face at the moment he'd be pouting.

"Set right," Yugi agreed, "but not sent to an asylum. That's all your _games_ end in. Jonouchi and Honda had it covered so don't trouble our head over it. I'm fine. Everything is okay."

Despite Yugi's words, the voice still remanded restless – wanting vengeance.

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On wrongs swift vengeance waits.

- Alexander Pope

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"Go to hell."

Yami smirks, twirling one of his fingers into her hair.

"I don't believe in your hell and wouldn't want to go there anyway."

Anzu swats at his hand and earns a sharp tug.

"Go anywhere then, as long as it's far from me."

Yami laughs this time. He knows she doesn't mean it. She knows he knows, but says it anyway. She says it with a vengeance every time – as if by saying it, it will be what she wants. It's the smart thing to do.

She never claimed to be smart.

At least she's not lying there.

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I won't tolerate lying.

- Vito Fossella

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	13. Swoon, Antagonism

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Do you think it would be as entertaining?

**Warning: **a little AU, well totally AU

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Swoon – (1) Faint from extreme emotion

(2) An occurrence of fainting

Antagonism - A strong natural dislike or hatred; antipathy

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Yugi blinked at the strange young man who materialized into his room the moment the puzzle was completed.

"So, you're the dark power and wisdom?"

"Yes," the young man gave him an approving smile, which looked fairly wicked at the same time, "that's the gist of it."

Yugi blinked again.

"I think I'm going to faint now."

His visitor blinked.

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Gifts must affect the receiver to the point of shock.

-Walter Benjamin

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The spirit of the millennium puzzle was an odd character. Though that sentence was poor summery of what Yugi had gathered on the ancient spirit after living with him for about a week, it was all he could string together.

Had he known he would receive a roommate with ridiculous eccentricities, he would have thought twice about finishing the puzzle. Having two new friends was fine and dandy, but having one insist on following you around and drive bullies insane with twisted games was a little overboard on his wish.

Yami – the name the spirit decided to take up – was good company however, and Yugi welcomed any friend.

The constant antagonizing of Seto Kaiba though was getting old.

"You should stop ragging on Kaiba–Kun all the time, Yami. He has enough money to kill you and make it look like a bloody accident." Yugi said to him once after a particularly harsh confrontation between the two.

Had he not know the better, the contrite downward sweep of think kohl lined lashes might have been convincing.

"Of course, Aibou," Yami said, and Yugi could tell it was a lie. He sighed and gave his companion a disapproving glance.

Well, at least he kept things interesting.

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It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and the broken promises.

- Chief Joseph

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	14. Insanity

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Mokuba would have a bigger role

**Warning: **AU and some Dark Atem

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Insanity – (1) The state of being seriously mentally ill; madness

(2) Extreme foolishness or irrationality

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Yugi Motou was as crazy as she was which was saying something since the former was a patient at an insane asylum. He was most likely the kindest person she'd ever met. He'd even become her friend during the months she had started working here after being fired from Burger World.

No, Yugi wasn't crazy.

Atem on the other hand, was the craziest person in the asylum.

The crimson eyed man, while sometimes a perfectly agreeable person, was under the delusion that he was an ancient spirit with dangerous powers.

It didn't help his case to be Yugi's alternate personality

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There's a big difference between sanity and insanity.

- Megan Gallagher

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"You're certainly attractive," the crimson eyed man who'd stolen Anzu's best friend's body observed, "but I have yet to understand his attraction to you."

"Shut-up" she said simply, trying to ignore the excitement that trilled down her spine as he trailed trim fingers acrossed her cheek. He looked amused, which was good – he was less dangerous that way. She resisted the urge to tell him to go to hell if only to avoided getting hurt.

She'd tell him later when he was sated and less likely to punish her for it.

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At the touch of your hand  
>At the sound of your voice<br>At the moment your eyes meet mine

I am losing my mind  
>I am losing control<br>Fighting feelings I can't define

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Dangerous Game, Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical

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	15. Accismus, Imbroglio

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! I wouldn't have so complicated of rules for the game, Geez!

**Dedication: **This chapter is for Kinakao and her awesome review/request!

**Warning: **serious AU, you'll know it when you see it (by the way, for those who don't know – Touzoku is one of Thief king Bakura's names)

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Accismus-a form of irony in which a person feigns a lack of interest in something that he or she actually desires

Imbroglio - a confusing, messy, or complicated situation, especially one that involves disagreement or intrigue

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Pretending to ignore the stranger that lingered to his right, Jono concentrated on packing the camel in front of him for his long journey. His little sister needed a priest – the blindness demon in her Ka was too strong for the priests here, and short of appealing to the Pharaoh's own personal priests there was none left do in this city.

The stranger, heavily cloaked as to avoid recognition watched him as he packed and Jono watched in turn from the corner off his eye. The cloaked man –it could only be so- glanced once toward his sleeping sister resting against their other camel then sharply pulled in a breath of air. Jono stopped and tensioned, the man obviously had seen the shadow creature in his sister's Ka, either the stranger was a priest or possessed by such a creature himself.

"Is this your sister?" It wasn't really a question, but Jono nodded anyway. The stranger frowned thoughtfully but spoke no more. The silence descended again, this time heavier. Jono remained tense, this man wanted something but he could not decipher what. To fill the silence, uncomfortable now, Jono spoke.

"No priest here has been able to pull the blindness demon from her Ka; we are leaving to find one who can."

The cloaked man's frown deepened but he made no move. Jono gave up and returned to packing, the man's gaze following. It took some time with that gaze on his shoulder blades but it occurred to Jono the man wanted to help, but would not acted until asked. He heaved a sigh then turned to face the stranger.

"Will _you_ help?"

The man studied Jono for a minute, before his hand shifted to something bulky under his cloak. The fabric rustled and revealed a flash of gold – the man was a priest. He raised crimson eyes to met Jono's brown.

"I will."

The priest moved with quiet steps to Jono's sleeping sister. Gently, he corrected her position and murmured spells to silent for Jono to hear. The shadows seemed to gather around the pair and a quick flash of light blared, but it happened too fast for Jono to be sure of what he saw. Then the priest removed the bindings over the girl's eyes for the first time in many suns.

The priest moved tiredly to leave, but Jono caught his arm. The question on his tongue went unsaid, but he got his answer all the same. With a sharp intake of breath, Jono smiled for the first time since then blindness demon.

"Thank-you, priest, how can I repay you?"

The man smiled crimson eyes bright with unshed tears.

"Just with the knowledge I have helped some on in need."

With those words he pulled away into the night, and Jono watched until he disappeared completely.

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It is one of the beautiful compensations in this life that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

**.**

**..**

…

Prince Touzoku studied the newest priest to enter his father's council. Barely older than himself, the Priest Atem stood shorter than the rest but just as wise and powerful. Idly Touzoku wonders what aged the young man so much, and then shakes away the thought. Atem's crimson eyes meet his own pale violet over the Pharaoh's –Touzoku's father – shoulder. There's a secrete in those eyes and he doesn't like it.

After the gathering, the silver haired prince catches the priest. Atem does not look surprised, instead looks satisfied as though gaining Touzoku's attention was a goal met.

"Let's get this strait, I don't like you. I don't trust you either." He says.

Priest Atem smiles.

"Good," the crimson eyed young man responds approvingly, then turns to leave, "You shouldn't." Then he is gone and Prince Touzoku is left with his wits in a tumble.

…

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Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move.

Sun Tzu

**.**

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	16. Accident

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Its spin-offs would be better

**Dedication: **This chapter is dedicated once again to Mewtwomaster58, for the awesome review and request! It is also a birthday present, Happy Birthday, you!

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Accident – (1) crash: a collision or similar incident involving a moving vehicle, resulting in property damage, personal injury or death

(2) Mishap: an unplanned and unfortunate event that results in damage, injury, or upset of some kind

(3) Chance: the way things happen without any planning, apparent cause, or deliberate intent

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Dartz did not believe in accidents. Everything was as it was fated to be.

So, he had to tamper a little to bring his warriors to him, it was all for the greater good. A storm here a frame job there was all that was needed to lead them down the paths he needed them to go.

How easily the human was lead.

Had he been the type for humor he may have laughed.

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Always have a plan, and believe in it. Nothing happens by accident. 

- Chuck Knox

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If Rafael ever believed in accidents before Dartz and the Orichalcos, he didn't now.

Just as he didn't believe in redemption for the world

Just as he didn't believe Dartz was wrong

If something happened as to be taken as an accident, it wasn't. It just meant he messed up again – somewhere.

"_Its fine, mate," waved off Valon, nursing a twisted ankle from running in to the larger male in the hall, "It was just an accident. You didn't see me. I didn't see you."_

"_No," he refused, "there's no such thing as accidents." _

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So be it. God created profoundly fallible creatures on this earth, and human history is mostly the story of error and accident. 

- Michael Ledeen

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	17. Adventitious, Ad Ininitum

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Mana would have a reincarnation other than a card

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Adventitious – accidental

Ad Infinitum – to infinity, endlessly

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The future god-king of Kemet was eating figs in the royal gardens when she came. The little green eyed girl who would soon be his best friend had run away from pesky lessons and twittering priestesses. She ran into him, not having been looking where she was going. Surprised at the sudden collision his fig had dropped to the ground.

Now, Prince Atem was a fairly good natured child so he held no grudges. He'd simply told the slightly younger girl that she owed him a new fig.

"I owe you nothing," Mana had retorted, "And just who do you think you are anyway? The Prince?"

It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

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You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job. 

Laurence J. Peter

**.**

**..**

…

He walked alone down countless hallways, past countless doors, for countless miles.

He walked alone through the shadows, through the infinite darkness.

He walked alone without thought, without memory, without name.

The years blended together in mindless monochrome till all humanity that lingered was lost and all sanity that clung was shed.

Forever unto its self.

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A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there - even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity. 

**- **Robert Doisneau

**.**

**..**

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	18. Effect

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Yami would stay as cool as he was in season 0

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Effect – (1) Purpose, intent

(2) Something that inevitably follows an antecedent

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He had a purpose at least.

He had no name, no memories, no body, but he had a purpose.

And **power**

A terrible, awesome power to apply to that purpose

"_Apparently some delinquent named Ushio has been causing trouble." _

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Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.

- Epictetus

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Sometimes Yugi wondered if he should take more care to avoid danger or to not even try. Danger seemed to follow him now-a-days like a duckling after its mother. Frankly, it scared him; with the danger came the blackouts.

With the danger came the other him.

It was all connected somehow, a spider's web of one event spiraling after another down the new and ominous road his life was taking. The cycle endlessly repeated.

Danger

Blackout

Danger

Blackout

And in between, that other him lurked like a bad aftertaste, filling his mouth with the corrosive and sweet essence of acid like power. He left him with wounds he never had and blood on his hands he never spilled. He left him in the aftermath of destruction, in the aftermath of the havoc caused by an unchecked cocktail of revenge like justice and sadistic darkness. He left him scared and afraid of just _what the hell_ he'd do next.

In another town, a young boy named Ryou woke to the sight of his friend's comatose bodies, the same worries on his lips.

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Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.  
><strong>- <strong>Helen Keller

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	19. Repine

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! The newest series would have some new plot and not just recycling

**Warning: **Vanishshipping

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Repine – (1) To feel or express dejection or discontentment

(2) To long for something

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Hurt and sorrow clouded Atem's usually sharp, crimson eyes. He shook his head as if by doing so it would fling painful emotions and the truth away from him, making his gold earrings clink against the gold at his neck. He refused to look at her, eyes locked on their intertwined hands between them. He clutched at her fingers tighter. The ring on his right hand dug into her skin; she didn't mind. She understood his reluctance to let her go. She didn't want to go. The truth of the situation was to clear however, for them to deny the truth.

Atem was crown prince, and not only the pharaoh's only male heir but the pharaoh's **one** heir. He needed to marry a princess, not a dancer, to carry on his line. No matter how he felt about it and about her, she knew he understood that.

Understanding does not cure a broken heart

"I…" she hesitated, "I am sorry, Prince." She tugged her hands gently from his grip. His hands closed in on the space where hers once were then dropped to his side. He straitened, his beautiful eyes meeting hers. They stood in silence for a frozen moment.

"I will always love you."

He turned and was gone. Once he disappeared into the crowd, back to his guards, Teana fell to her knees and wept into the dust.

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For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are those 'It might have been.'

John Greenleaf Whittier

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He was the king of Lower and Upper Egypt

He was the embodiment of Horus

He was a son of Ra

He could not have her

She had been so beautiful and he couldn't have stopped himself from approaching with even a thousand spells, much less the old battered one he'd cast long ago as a child. Ignoring the tugging of the chant in the back of his head, he spoke to her and did the very thing he had meant to prevent.

Fell in love at first sight

He had been right to fear it.

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To fear love is to fear life and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

- Bertrand Russell

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	20. Akimbo, Anecdote

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Jonouchi and Honda would be beating up people who got on their way

**Warning: **In case you hadn't noticed I lean towards AU a lot, the first drabble is an example of such

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Akimbo – with hands on hips

Anecdote – short, amusing true story

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He stood before her like an ancient mural come to life; yet he seemed so doubtlessly modern. Dressed in a short-sleeved dress shirt and the navy blue pants of their school uniform, he would have looked like any other teenager had she not known the truth. Now, as she had not before, she picked up on all the things that had silently given him away. His line was said to have descended from the very gods his people had worshiped and flimsy cotton and polyester could not hide it once revealed.

Eternal, crimson eyes locked with hers. She knew his secrete, but what would she do with it? No one would be leave her that the so talented, so very well behaved, so very _handsome_ Atem Motou was an Egyptian pharaoh. They would think she was nuts!

She couldn't, however, allow him to intimidate her anymore. The whole reason she had looked into him was to take him down of his high horse. She'd simply bit off more that she expected but she would not let it be more than she could chew.

Shaking off what had kept her frozen like a mouse in the eyes of a falcon; she straitened and put her hands on her waist to complete her predator stance. His power would not find a hold on her. She wouldn't allow it.

With steady blue eyes, Anzu locked glares with the god king before her, defiance in every bone.

"I'm not scared of you."

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A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.

- Eleanor Roosevelt

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Yugi paused in the doorway, frozen in shock. Amethyst eyes scanned the scene for anything he missed before he gaped again at the whole picture.

Jonouchi rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as Seto picked a plastic gemstone from where it was stuck on his cheek. Yards upon yards of glittering fabric shuffled noisily with every movement the two made.

"Jonouchi-kun, Kaiba-kun… why in the world are _you_ wearing _that_?"

"Well," the blonde of the two began as the brunette soothed out a ruffle on his exquisite ball gown with a falsely casual air, "It's kinda a funny story…"

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I do not believe they've run out of surprises.

- Larry Niven

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	21. Anathema

**Disclaimer: **if I owned Yu-gi-oh! Bakura would have more screen time

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Anathema – (1) Solemn curse

(2) Thing or person detested

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The cool water of the Nile did little but make him cold as the threadbare child, submersed to the waist in the river, splashed it a crossed his skin in an attempt to clean the grime of dirt and blood from his person. He shook his head to fling the water away, sending wet locks in a flurry of pale color. Small hands covered a small face. Fingernails dug into his forehead as he pressed his palms closer to muffle the relapse of tears that had snuck upon him. The young boy shook there, weeping and cursing, for all that he had lost nights before.

In the darkness of his soul a monster spread its wings and matching each curse with a promise of revenge.

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It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe that lures him to evil ways

Buddha

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Crimson haunted his dreams

The crimson of blood

The crimson of fire

The crimson of anger

The crimson of blame

The crimson of eyes

The crimson eyes of the golden prince

The crimson eyes of the soon-to-be pharaoh.

He relished those dreams

He relished them in anticipation of when the god king's blood was the one spilled on the ground.

He relished them in anticipation of when those beautiful, hated eyes were tearful and fading as he got to watch all life drain from them.

For now, however, he'd simply have to settle for the delicious combination of anger, hatred, and fear.

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No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.

- Niccolo Machiavelli

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	22. Sanguinary

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Kaiba's hair would be green

**Warning: **When I refer to Thief King Bakura, he will be using his name Touzoku.

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Sanguinary – (1) Full of or characterized by bloodshed; bloody: _a sanguinary struggle _

(2) Ready or eager to shed blood; bloodthirsty

(3) Composed of or marked with blood

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Touzoku studied the blood on his hands with a detached air. The man he had just killed, running him through with the man's own sickle sword, was not the first to fall by him and would certainly not be the last. That was not what made the silver haired King of Thieves pause; the fact the man had been a fool to try and rob _him_ rubbed him wrong. No thief worth his salt would dare to steal from Touzoku. The man must have been desperate, a simple man forced to take what was not his to survive.

Pity.

Touzoku wiped the blood away.

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I fear no man  
>Yet I shun my own reflection<br>For I have become the grim reaper of eternal love  
>A destroyer of worldly dreams<br>The creator of an all consuming darkness  
>I fear no man<br>And feed on those who fail to fear me

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Ryou stared at the blood on his hands with an _oddly_ detached air. Crimson liquid welled on pale skin, the same tainted stainless steel. All pain was briefly smothered by blank numbness until it rushed in like an after wave in the wake of a tsunami. With a slight wince Ryou examined the cut, chocolate eyes scanning the slashed skin. He set the kitchen knife that he had been using to chop carrots with down on the cutting board beneath it. His now empty hand rose to touch the cut, hoping that the flesh around it was not bruised.

The blood dripped lazily from a thin finger and on to the hard, orange surface of the carrot he had been preparing. Ryou scrunched his pale nose in disgust, losing his appetite. He threw the roots away with a small pause at the kitchen door to contemplate getting a band-aid. He shook his head in negation, deciding against it.

Ryou wiped the blood away.

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To tell the truth, I've just been avoiding everything

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	23. Animadvert, Venial

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Anzu wouldn't spout friendship speeches as Tea Gardner

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Animadvert – to criticize, to censure

Venial – (1) Of a kind that can be remitted

(2) Meriting no particular censure or notice

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Atem, like usual, looked bored in History class. Doodling strange symbols in the margins of his notebook seemed to be vastly more entertaining then the Ancient Egypt section the teacher was droning on about at the front room. Anzu glared at the back of his spiky head for the remainder of the class once she had finished the simple worksheet that had been the assignment that day. People who did not take school seriously always rubbed her wrong; she made a mental note to finally catch him after class and question him about his lack of attention.

He had been surprised when she had sought him out as the teacher dismissed them. The slightly strange teen blinked at her almost owlishly when she had slammed her hand onto his desk to get him to look at her.

"Ancient Egypt," She stated as she leaned over the desk between them, "is really interesting. Why don't you listen to the teacher when he is going over it?"

Atem smirked, "I could teach this class."

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They have a right to censure that have a heart to help.

- William Penn

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Malik shifted uneasily in his seat, drawing idle designs on the condensation on the side of his milkshake. Lilac eyes rose hesitantly to glance at his companion be fore he cleared his throat to speak.

"Anzu, I…. well-"

"I do hope," she interrupted, "that you didn't invite me out with you just to apologize. Because you don't have to, and I was actually looking forward to a night out with an attractive male friend."

Malik blushed.

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She is a friend of mind. She gathers me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order. It's good, you know, when you have a woman who is a friend of your mind.

-Toni Morrison

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	24. Adit, Adminicle

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! Honda and Malik would be best friends

**Note: **compare the first drabble to that of Atem, Mana, and the hair

**Another Note: **I'm sorry the second drabble is so short

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Adit – to approach

Adminicle - to support

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"Yugi?"

Said teen paused, a drink half-way to his lips, to observe his companion over the rim of his glass. Jonouchi shifted awkwardly in his seat.

"Yes?" Yugi ventured, setting his glass down. The blond a crossed from him leaned forward suddenly, closer and over the table between them.

"Well," he shifted again, looking away briefly, "I've always wondered…never known how to approach it…"

"What?"

The blond gestured vaguely to the magnificent colors and spikes that crowned his best friend's head, "Is your hair naturally like that?"

Yugi sighed.

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Never explain - your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.

- Elbert Hubbard

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In the back of a dim bar, two sat in a cramped booth nursing each a drink. One a tall brunette, he trailed thin fingers over the fine rim of his glass. The other an attractive blond, flipping her golden hair in a shimmering waterfall over one bared shoulder raised a glass.

"To loneliness," Mai proposed as a toast, "and to the people who make it a little better."

Seto's glass clinked with hers.

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Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness  
>But it's better than drinkin' alone<p>

- Piano Man, Billy Joel

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	25. Misconception, Obloquy

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh! as much as the next person here

**Dedication: **This is for Mewtwomaster58, hope you like it!

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Misconception – A false or mistaken view, opinion, or attitude

Obloquy – verbal exhibition of a bad temper

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Shizuka had to admit, if only to herself, that she had had fun tonight. At first she had been hesitant to except a dinner invitation from someone her brother clearly hated, but now she was very glad she had said yes. Seto Kaiba wasn't _nearly_ as bad as her brother – and her own experience with the intimidating CEO – had lead her to believe. Compared to Katsuya's opinion, Kaiba had behaved downright angelic at their meal – never too harsh and never too cold.

She liked to think he'd made an extra effort for her.

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The lion is not as fierce as they paint him

-George Herbert

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"If you're going to date going to date my sister you're going to treat her right, ya hear?"

"I _hear_ fine. Now kindly remove your dog breath from my vicinity, mutt."

"Don't you call me mutt, money bags! And most definitely don't start calling my sister that!"

"Rest assured, your sister is certainly safe from my insults. She is not a dog…are you sure you two are related?"

"Why you-!"

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Remember,

When we last gathered roses in the garden,

I found my wits; but you truly lost yours

-John Ford

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	26. Denigrate, Cimmerian

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

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Denigrate - To blaken, to sully

Cimmerian - (1) Pertaining to the faubulous cimmerians, who dwelt in perpetual darkness

(2) Extremly dark

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She hadn't meant for it to end up like this.

With Yugi gone, whisked away by the seal of orichalcos, Yami was full to the brim with self-directed anger. Unable to not offer comfort to the ancient spirit, Anzu had followed him as he withdrew to the next train compartment. They were all suffering from the loss of their greatest friend. Yami was obviously suffering the most, but she wanted to let him know he wasn't alone in his grief and that his other friends would be for him. So she had followed him despite Jonouchi's grim warning to leave him alone.

She hadn't meant for it to end up like this.

Yami shared everything with Yugi. He shared a body, a mind, without the young man it must have felt as if he'd been ripped in half. She knew nothing about what it was like to lose your other self, to lose a part of you like that, but she should have guessed that all the Pharaoh would have wanted at that moment was to feel close to someone –anyone.

She hadn't meant for it to end up like this.

He had torn at her when she had approached, lost in the darkness that was his soul without the light his dear partner provided. He had pulled her into that darkness and into his sensual embrace with an all-consuming need for light. He held her so tight, touched with such ferocity that she thought she would have bruises for weeks. It almost seemed as if he was trying to absorb her and all the light in her soul to replace all that was missing. Anzu counted herself lucky to have been able to walk out of that small room without markings to testify what had happened.

His self-anger reared its ugly head once again afterwards. His guilt seemed to double, seemed to physically weigh him down. Yami would not look at her. Worried on how what had happened would affect his already trembling mental state, she reached to place a hand on his tense shoulder, words of assurance that all was fine falling sincerely from her lips.

"No, it's not." he said pushing her well meaning fingers aside, "My darkness is a horrible thing, Anzu. It pushed me to use the seal, losing Yugi. It pushed me to…hurt you, when all you wanted to do was reach out to me in this void." He gazed at his hands, the hands of his stolen body, the hands that bent her to his will. Disgusted, he looked away, clenching them. "I have proved myself unreachable." The words were terribly close to a whisper and drenched with inner loathing.

His shoulders trembled and she reached for him again in comfort. Yami pulled away, as if he was something dirty and not something she should touch, and straightened his ruffled cloths. He left after that, not looking at her.

Anzu sat in silence.

She hadn't meant for it to end up like this.

It had, however, and there was no use dwelling over it.

She pulled on her clothes and followed.

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Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to live, make haste to be kind.

-Henri-Frederic Amiel

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He shouldn't have done it.

Anzu had come offering comfort and instead of finding solace in her support and company through the loss of a mutual friend he had only been stricken with a deep terrible hunger. He had dragged her into his arms, craving the light of hope and faith and _life_ she promised with sea – coast eyes. He had ravaged her as if in this physical way he could steal some of that vital light that shown so brightly in her –and in Yugi – to light his black path.

He shouldn't have done it.

Yugi loved this woman – now definitely a woman as he pushed her beneath him and made her writhe against his pilfered body. Was this how he repaid the boy who had set him free, the boy who had sacrificed so much for him? How despicable.

He shouldn't have done it.

His self –loathing only grew as they caught their breath, Anzu's harsher than his. He glanced once when he didn't feel her burning gaze on him and had quickly turned away again. Her lips were swollen from his, her arms littered with bruises one could only see if they knew they were there, and he couldn't stand the sight. She sighed heavily and moved to reach to reach out to him.

"Everything is fine, Ya-"

"No," he bit out, interrupting her, "it's not. My darkness is a horrible thing, Anzu. It pushed me to use the seal, losing Yugi. It pushed me to…hurt you, when all you wanted to do was reach out to me in this void." Her stared at his hands, almost seeing his sins drip off of them like blood. He clenched them tight as if to catch it there in his palms. "I have proved myself unreachable."

She reached for him again. He avoided her touch; it was no use for her to dirty her hands in his darkness. Then, unable to face his sins once again, he left; Anzu's big, blue eyes burning worriedly into his back.

He shouldn't have done it and he'd go to the grave before he'd ever tell of it.

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To rid ourselves of our shadows - who we are - we must step into either total light or total darkness

- Jeremy Preston

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	27. Conflagration, Derelict

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

**Note: **Kokurano is a character from the manga, a false prophet who gets famous at Yugi's school by predicting a fire at a classmates house. While it is not directly said that he set fire to the other boy's home, it is highly suggested. He is later stopped by Yami no Yugi after the false prophet tried to kill Yugi and chloroformed Anzu.

**Another Note: **I am hosting a propmt challenge. If you are interested, the rules and prompts are on my profile.

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Conflagration – A great fire

Derelict – Abandoned, anything forsaken or left

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Kokurano, from the moment he was born, was constantly told that he had the skills and talent of a rock. The forth son in a family of mathematical geniuses, he was promptly ignored when it was discovered he had no knack for numbers.

It hadn't really mattered to him when he was a kid; he had simply turned to his great imagination for company. It became his refuge over the years, a sanctuary from the scorn of his family and the blatant dismissal from his teachers and peers. He wasn't smart, he wasn't handsome, but in his world that hardly mattered. He could be anyone and anything there. In his mind he had the admiration of all who ignored him in reality. He wasn't unloved and he wasn't left behind within his world. He was free.

It wasn't until freshmen year that he had struck a gold mine. His fantasy at the time had been being a fortune teller and it had gotten out of hand when he had proclaimed the fate of one of his constant bullies to be a fire. It had been laughed off and Kokurano embarrassed, and would have been forgotten by the next day had inspiration not struck.

A fire was not so hard to start.

Ability's were not so hard to fake.

Tomorrow he'd be famous.

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I am imagination. I can see what the eyes cannot see. I can hear what the ears cannot hear. I can feel what the heart cannot feel.

-Peter Nivio Zarlenga

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Jonouchi paced Kaiba's office as if he owned it, his worn sneakers contrasting with the expensive, plush carpet. He dug callused fingers roughly through blond hair. His scowl so fierce one would think his present companion was rubbing off on him. The young teen was muttering to quietly for Seto to hear, but he assumed they were curses.

"Why are you here?"

"Where else would I go?" Jonouchi snapped, almost growling like the mutt he was. That type of response, the young C.E.O. thought while shuffling through paper work, was totally uncalled for seeing as he was being far more polite than the dog deserved. The blond continued to bark, "Yugi is with Anzu, Otogi is off selling his stupid game, Mai still hasn't come back, and – and – Malik has stolen my best friend!" Seto nodded to satisfy the blond, and Jonouchi went back to pacing while muttering under his breath curses aimed at pretty Egyptian boys, stupid best friends, and motorcycles.

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A friend is nothing but a known enemy.

-Kurt Cobain

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	28. Convalesce, Abattoir

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

**Note: **The first drabble takes place the morning after Yami no Yugi's game with Director-san in the manga, a man who falsifies shocking scenes for TV. Yami no Yugi challenges him to a game involving a die, which the Director chucks at Yami no Yugi's face hard enough to split the die in two.

The second is _just_ after Yami no Yugi's game with a third year student (also in the manga) who, with the rest of his class, forcefully took down Yugi's class's booth for the school festival to replace it with their own. Yami no Yugi challenges him to a game involving a heated iron plate and gunpowder. It did not turn out well for his opponent.

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Convalesce – To recover health

Abattoir - Slaughter-house

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…

Yugi honestly did not know why he was so tired or in so much pain. He was exhausted though, as if he had been awake all night, and had a horrible headache. Absently he fingered the new bruise on his forehead left over from who knew what, the cause of his massive headache.

He had woken that morning sprawled over his bed in leather pants he did not recall owning, body still sore from the beating he had taken a few days before and the feeling that his head would split and spill it contents over his pillow adding to it. It had been so ridiculously hard to even change out of the strange costume he'd found himself in and into his school clothes, he could barely consider actually going to school that morning afterwards. His grandfather had simply tucked him back into bed and said to get some rest when he had found Yugi clutching his brow and leaning heavily against the hallway wall on his way downstairs.

Following the older man's advice, but not before stopping at the bathroom to get some painkillers, Yugi fell asleep and pondered the issue no more.

…

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Much of your pain is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.

-Khalil Gibran

.

..

…

He's dreaming, Yugi knows he is, but the horrid sent of smoldering flesh is too clear and the weight of the still burning body that is twice his size, scorched beyond recognition, on his shoulders is too concrete. This dream – this nightmare – is too real.

He knows in this sleep vision he has just killed this young man. He knows he is doing what he can to cover it up. He is horrified. It scares him how calmly he is covering up the murder; it frightens him that he feels no remorse for the death of his schoolmate and only the slightest regret over having caused it. Most of all, it scares him that part of him doesn't care at all, that part of him is still angry at this carcass and wishes for more damage to slake its thirst for vengeance.

He body moves without his consent to toss the body into the dark waters just off the docks at the edge of Domino City. He doesn't know how he got there so quickly, but he can't quite bring himself to care. He feels so incredibly numb right then, watching Inogashira Gorou's corpse disappear into the midnight waves.

Someone laughed in the distance.

…

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Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

-Buddha

…

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	29. Invocation, Inherent

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

**Note: **This drabble takes place after Denigrate, Cimmerian (chap. 26)

**Another Note: **Yes, I know I skip about 8 or so months between these two related drabbles. I don't plan on filling that space in. I might if someone really wanted me to, but I really don't think I will.

...

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Invocation - the act of invoking or calling upon a deity, spirit, etc., for aid, protection, inspiration, or the like; supplication.

Inherent - basic, hereditary

.

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It had been years since Yugi had finished the Millennium Puzzle. It had been years since all of them discovered the pharaoh's presence. It had been a month in a half since they had found themselves tumbled together in that train compartment. It had been a weeks since Atem had left. It had been a couple of days since she had moved to New York City. It had been a couple of days since she had found out she was pregnant.

She hoped it was Yugi's

That would make sense wouldn't it? It was Yugi's body she had been ravaged with if not his soul.

It didn't really matter anyway. She had not talked to any of her friends since moving, and she couldn't really show up out of nowhere and tell Yugi that his best friend, the man he had shared a mind and body with for years had screwed his childhood friend in a fit of despair could she? She could barely tell her own parents, much less one of the best friends she had ever had that she was pregnant with a child whose father had been dead for three thousand years. It would only serve to hurt Yugi.

So she went through the pregnancy alone.

She hoped it was Yugi's.

…

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A lot of women say they love being pregnant, but I wasn't such a big fan.

-Marion Jones

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…

As impossible as it seemed, Anzu's child was very much her father's daughter. This child she had helped give life to was every inch what she was – the daughter of a Pharaoh. Tiny, tiny hands reached out toward her, grasping in the air, angled violet eyes watched solemnly through delicate half opened lids. Anzu returned the gaze, finding a smile in spite of the turn life had brought her for her daughter and nuzzling a kiss on the baby's plump olive-toned cheek. Already, like thousands of mothers before her, Anzu loved her child through all the difficulties that lay in wait ahead.

"Miss Mazaki?" a nurse called from the doorway. Anzu looked away from her daughter to meet the nurse's eyes, "Have you thought of a name? We need it for the birth certificate."

The name came unbidden.

"Azeneth" she answered, making the nurse pause - confused.

"It's Egyptian. It means - _She belongs to her father_."

…

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A mother's love is instinctual, unconditional, and forever.

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	30. Cathartic, Demagogue

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

**Warning: **Implied past mizushipping, almost anti-blushipping, and some vaseshipping vibes

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Cathartic - purging

Demagogue - a leader of the people

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The night air floating through the window is cold and the sharp ridges that composed the design etched in to his mahogany headboard are painful as they dig into his upper back; sitting upright in bed, Seto Kaiba watches the figure at the foot of his bed warily. He's dreaming he knows he is, the cold and the pain be damned.

There's a dead woman in his room.

A woman who has been dead for 3000 years

Kisara

She is watching him as he's watching her. Her stare is much less wary then his, but she's watching all the same. Her eyes dark in the shadows the moonlight plays on her face, the rest of her glows in that light. Her pale skin and hair seem to reflect it, bouncing it away from her and into his eyes. The woman at the end of his bed looks no deader than he is. In fact, she seems to shimmer with life and moon glow. He almost hates her for it.

"Why are you here?" he asks, his voice steadier then he feels.

"To reclaim what is mine." she answers.

He spits out the first conclusion that come to mind. It is not his smartest moment, but right then he doesn't care. There is a dead woman in his room, in his dreams, and he wants her gone. She stirs too many things in his long walled heart he doesn't like. He wants to get to the point of this and leave.

"I'm not yours."

She almost smiles. It's a little sad and a little pitying – he hates it all together.

"No," she replies, "you're not."

She half turns to point at the locked draw of his nightstand – the exact place where the three Blue-eyes White Dragon cards lay at the moment. The drawer and nightstand are reinforced with steel and countless other things, so he's never worried about a thief.

"But those are."

Well, until now.

The drawer slides open as if it had never been sealed and locked in the first place, as if it was only wood. He watches frozen as his most precious cards are lifted in moonlight and gathered in her hands. A part of him cries out against it in a horrifyingly desperate way, the rest of him calls out in anger, Seto himself says nothing.

"And this is."

Then he shifts inside himself, the part of him that cried in despair evaporates and condenses, taking the form of a single tear. It surprises him to feel it run down his cheek, and he reaches to wipe it away. It is gone before he can touch it, another thing she has stolen and cradled in her arms.

"With the passing of the Pharaoh, you are no longer my Set. Therefore, you are no longer under my protection. It is only fair I reclaim not only my dragon, but what little of Set remained in you. After all, you wanted no part in your destiny to begin with."

He opens his mouth to say anything, anything at all. He tries to dig up all that is him in the day light, and finds nothing. In this bizarre dream he is powerless and he doesn't like it.

"Farewell, Seto Kaiba. Your destiny leaves, as you have wanted."

Everything fades to black before he can say something to the contrary, and when he wakes his dragons are gone.

…

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Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live.

-Marcus Aurelius

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…

Mana remembers.

She remembers indignant glares from her playmate as she teases him for catching the 'stogy sickness' from Seth.

She remembers his soft laughter dancing in the background when she spectacularly messes up a spell.

She remembers his hand in hers as they ran from guards and priests alike when they got in trouble for every little misadventure.

She remembers hiding for hours everywhere and in anything, pressed to his side, listening for footsteps and hearing instead his quiet breathing in her ear and her own fast pulse.

She remembers holding him while he cried for his dying mother.

She remembers clasping his hand in hers secretly in the folds of his cape when Mahado officially became one of the Pharaoh's priests, because, though they would see him every day, they were still somehow losing a friend.

She remembers comforting him in the dark when he came to her with the nightmarish visions that haunted his dreams.

She remembers supporting her best friend in the whole world as he walked out of his father's tomb, the funeral procession done, because he could no longer stand on his own.

Mana remembers the boy that would grow up to sacrifice himself for the sake of his country and home.

Mana wonders if anyone else does.

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Martyrs, my friend, have to choose between being forgotten, mocked or used. As for being understood - never.

-Albert Camus

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	31. Intermezzo, Siderophobia

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

**Note: **the second drabble is loosely connected to the second drabble of chapter 3

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Intermezzo – (1) A short, light piece between the acts of a serious drama or opera

Siderophobia – Fear of stars

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Yugi looks quizzically at his friend as she stops him from completing the Millennium Puzzle.

"Friends don't let friends sell their souls for powers of darkness, Yugi."

"What if their getting not only the powers of darkness but an awesome soul buddy, tons of friends, and other-worldly adventurous in exchange as well?"

Anzu shakes her head.

"Even then."

"Darn"

…

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Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

-Abraham Lincoln

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Seated beside him on the roof of his grandfather's game shop, Anzu glitters in the starlight. Her eyes so, so blue under the moon and her skin so, so pale, she points to constellations and turns to tell him their names even though he already knows them.

Its okay though, this repetition, because while he listens dutifully and she speaks as though each word of imparted knowledge is a revelation there is no room for loss or pain. In the cloak of words and stars there is no such thing as Pharaohs, no such thing as saying good-bye, and no such thing as The End.

He knows that she will also leave. He knows that this Novocain of star glow and azure eyes will vanish to a land crossed the sea. He knows that his time with girl beside him is just a fleeting as that with Atem.

But right now, that doesn't matter.

What matters now is her smile in the moonlight and her hand in his.

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Prometheus is reaching out for the stars with an empty grin on his face.

-Arthur Koestler

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	32. Jacqueminot, Inveigle

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

**Note: **slight puppyshipping vibes and Vampire! Seto

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Jacqueminot - a deep crimson perennial rose

Inveigle - to lead astray, to win over by trickery

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Jonouchi didn't know why he had gone with the man. Everything about this Seto Kaiba rubbed him wrong; those cold eyes, cold smirk, cold skin made something deep in him shiver violently and scream in protest of his moving feet. It wracked his frame every time the attractive stranger drew close, along with a disturbing wave of magnetism toward him. He had never been interested in men before, so it came as a shock to so won over by this male, even a male so attractive as this Seto Kaiba.

Maybe it was simply time for a change anyway. He had just broken up with his long time girlfriend Mai, and none of his other relationships with women had gone well any way.

Maybe it was the fact that Seto had challenged him with this attraction and Jonouchi never backed down from a challenge.

Maybe it was the want to not be alone right then, to not be alone in the middle of a city he did not know because he had only moved there a month ago to be with Mai.

He didn't know why he had gone with Seto Kaiba.

He just knew it would change his life forever.

…

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Mama, Mama, help me get home  
>I'm out in the woods; I am out on my own.<br>I was stopped by a vampire, a rotting old wreck  
>It showed me its teeth and went straight for my neck.<p>

-Lauren Oliver

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Tossing aside his now ruined designer coat, Kaiba scrubbed the blood dripping down his chin with slight disgust. The prey he'd chosen tonight had fought and, though he was significantly stronger than one measly human, it had made the whole business much messier. The young, blond male, punching and writhing as Kaiba fed, had splattered dark droplets of blood all over the expensive, white blazer Kaiba had been wearing. The coat was unsalvageable and it was with regret that he ordered it tossed out along with the now dead body that littered his office.

He turned his back to the scene once the servants bustled in to remove the mess, moving to sit at his desk and finish up work for the evening. He had posed as the long lost son of an aging C.E.O. years back and inherited the company once the old man had died. Though Kaiba could have easily erased the memories of those involved and simply disappeared, the truth remained that he was bored. While running a company was not exactly the most exciting or entertaining thing to do to pass the time it at least it occupied him. Spending centuries with nothing to do would bore him into dust, and Kaiba liked living –if that's what you called it- a bit too much for that.

After all, who wouldn't when you're the second most powerful vampire in the world?

…

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But first, on earth as Vampire sent,  
>Thy corpse shall from its tomb be rent:<p>

Then ghastly haunt thy native place,  
>And suck the blood of all thy race;<p>

There from thy daughter, sister, wife,  
>At midnight drain the stream of life;<p>

Yet loathe the banquet which perforce  
>Must feed thy livid living corpse.<p>

Thy victims are they yet expire  
>Shall know the demon for their sire,<p>

As cursing thee, thou cursing them,  
>Thy flowers withered on the stem.<p>

-Lord Byron

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	33. Urbanphobia, Faretheewell

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

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Urbanphobia – Fear of cities

Fare-thee-well - (1) The uptmost degree

(2) A state of perfection

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To be honest, Yugi was worried. The his last contact with Anzu had been made a few days into her move to New York. Shortly after, all news from her end had ceased, and Anzu stopped answering any of his calls. Anzu was all alone in a foreign country, was not keeping contact with even the closest of her friends. She had completely disappeared from his life; the woman could have _died_ and he wouldn't have known. All he knew about her life in New York was second hand knowledge from her parents and even what they got was scarce.

He was so worried. A lot of things could happen to a beautiful, young girl in New York City and not all of them _pretty_. Sometimes, he'd wake in the middle of the night shaking from some nightmare about all the trouble Anzu could have gotten herself into there in America. He knew that Anzu was a tough girl and that she could probably take care of herself, but he could help but be beside himself with fear. He had to talk to her soon, or he'd drive himself crazy.

Yugi picked up the phone and dialed.

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It makes no sense to worry about things you have no control over because there's nothing you can do about them, and why worry about things you do control? The activity of worrying keeps you immobilized.

-Wayne Dyer

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Yugi called the day Anzu brought her daughter home. Of course, he had called right when she was slipping her sleeping baby into the crib one of her coworkers helped her set up , so she had to rush for the phone once Azeneth was settled. Answering on the last ring, her hello was breathless.

"Hello Anzu!" Yugi greeted her pleasantly from the other line, "I hadn't heard from you in _so_ long and I thought I'd give you call." Anzu fooled. The worry underneath the light tone made her heart ache, regretting avoiding him for so long. It must have eaten away at him, her distance, and it brought guilt welling to the surface.

"I'm sorry I haven't kept in touch, Yugi," Anzu apologized, and then added to sooth him, "I was actually going to call you here soon…I've just been so busy."

"Oh! I hope I'm not interrupting something."

"I should ask if I'm interrupting something," Anzu laughed, "something like your sleep for instance. What time is it over there? Midnight?" Yugi stuttered something unintelligible about wanting to catch her at the right time and Anzu giggled again before sobering.

"Don't worry so much about me and get some snooze, kay?" Anzu glanced over at the door of her bedroom, where her daughter was sleeping peacefully, "I'm happier than I thought I could ever be." Yugi must have felt her happiness over the phone, for the worry laced in his voice softened.

"Have a good day, Anzu."

"Good night, Yugi."

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Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.

-Eleanor Roosevelt

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	34. Quietus, Coup De Grâce

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

**Dedication: **This first drabble is for dr-fanmai-lover, I know this is probably not what you wanted but I hope you like it all the same. This is what I get for writing during driver's ed.

**Note: **The second drabble is part of the series of Dark!Spirit of the Puzzle drabbles

**Warning: **Character death!

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Quietus - death**  
><strong>

Coup De Grâce - Finishing blow

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"Goodnight everybody!"

The thousands of fans in the audience cheered as the Millennium Girls left the stage, an almost deafening sound. Each woman waved as they disappeared, the leader heaving a heavy sigh once they were out of sight. Anzu felt the disappointment she'd starved off all evening settle onto her shoulders with a familiar weight. Sure, the Millennium Girls had tons of fans and many had attended the concert, but the one fan that mattered to the brunette had not.

A hand found its way to her shoulder in comfort and Anzu tossed a stiff smile over to Kisara in appreciation. The bass player's blue eyes were soft with sympathy and worry, but Anzu ignored her good friend's offered consolation and finally shrugged the pale hand on her shoulder away. Pulling into herself, the leader of the band trudged to her dressing room.

Kisara watched her friend silently as the other girl left, turning to the others with worried questions etched into her pale countenance once the brunette was gone. Mai – the band's guitarist – just shook her head. Kisara, Mai, and the drummer for the band – Rebecca had dealt with this before, and while they worried about their good friend, they knew better than to follow.

They stood in silence for a long time.

Anzu was equally silent as she opened the door to her dressing room. Not riseing her eys from the floor she did not realize the room already had an occupant.

"Anzu..."

Said woman's head shot up in surprise and blinked at the sight of Yugi – the object of her depression's younger brother. She opened her mouth to speak but Yugi beat her to it.

"He's dead, Anzu." tears glimmered in those amethyst eyes, " I couldn't catch up with you for the longest time, I was always a city behind, but I thought you needed to be told in person. Atem was on his way to the airport, Anzu, to see you. They didn't see him coming up to the intersection and made a sloppy left turn. He was gone even before the paramedics got there."

"No..." The denial left the singer in a horrified gust.

" I'm sorry Anzu."

…

..

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It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things."

— Lemony Snicket

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He could be gentle in his lapses of sanity, softly untangling the knots in her hair caused by friction against the pillow. He would whisper to her about his days trapped in the puzzle in a breath against her ear. His fingers would be light on her skin; they could trail instead of clench, they could rub instead of claw, and they could sooth instead of hurt.

The spirit apologized even, once. His crimson eyes had faded to dark amethyst, a shade away from Yugi's, as he studied her face. Guilt was sunk in those eyes, softer then velvet against the gaze of her own blue. Anzu had kissed it away, if only to see all that blame blur out from the eyes that had once belonged to her best friend.

He never touched her after that.

She never missed Yugi more.

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The worst type of crying is the silent one. The one when everyone is asleep. The one where you feel it in your throat, and your eyes become blurry from the tears. The one where you just want to scream. The one where you have to hold your breath and grab your stomach to keep quiet. The one where you can't breath anymore. The one that you realize that the person that meant the most to you, is gone...

-Sofie Christie

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	35. Acyanopsia, Sangfroid

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

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Acyanopsia - Color blindness towards blue

Sang-froid – Coolness and composure, especially in trying circumstances

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In the beginning his eyes had been blue. Yugi hardly remembers it now, his face in the mirror before the spirit slipped into his life and into his mind, but he remembered blue –sky blue- eyes. It was because of them his eyes were violet now, he knew. The Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle had eyes like blood, seeping through gashes of skin rendered open. The spirit's eyes were an open flame of intense emotion and judgment. Such color and presence tends to percolate into anything juxtaposed.

The violet irises were a symbol of sorts. They were a physical reminder to any who understood of just how close the Pharaoh's mind was to Yugi's; of just of much they were intertwined. Atem had changed him irrevocably in the process of finding himself and through that experience Yugi found what he was supposed to be as well.

He wouldn't have exchanged those experiences for the bluest eyes in the world.

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A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.

-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

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It occurred to Anzu once that if she had never met Yugi, she would never have had the strength to persevere through all the challenges presented to her here in New York City.

Life here in the Big Apple, and all trials she faced in becoming the dancer she had dreamed of being often threatened to overwhelm her now, but had she gotten here without the knowledge she had earned traipsing around with her best friends and ancient pharaoh in tow, she would have drowned under the pressure. Constantly, things she _needed_ to be or _needed_ to do to be the best were thrust at her in blinding whirl. Facing now an ancient god of darkness (and all the other threats thrown their way) with only your wits and your friends beside you tended to fortify your sense of self, your defenses against anything that obstructed your way, and the strength of your soul.

Every once in a while, Anzu sent a thought up to Atem in hopes he was listening. A simple thank you now and again to the Pharaoh that had ultimately given Anzu her best friends in the world and prepared her to face down all trials the world threw at her was enough.

But for Yugi, the boy who even without the Pharaoh's spirit changed her so much, no mere thank you would even satisfy.

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In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

-Albert Schweitzer

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	36. Convoke, Misguided

**Disclaimer: **I. In Stiches, do not own Yu-gi-oh!

**Dedication: **This chapter is for My Misguided Fairytale for giving me the word I needed for this chapter to be updated when all hope was lost and for her awesome review.**  
><strong>

**Note: **Ummu is the Arabic word for mother

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Convoke – to meet

Misguided - having or showing faulty judgment or reasoning

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Yugi was at the edge of his seat in anticipation; a seat which was the best money could buy in the theater Anzu's show was playing at. Though he was fairly well of himself, he had duel Kaiba into giving him the extra cash he needed for a ride around the city his best female friend loved and a good view of the stage. He really hadn't expected the C.E.O. to actually get him not only the Kaiba Corp. company chauffeur to drive him, but the best seat in the house _and_ a room at one of the most expensive hotels in New York. He rather thought the elder duelist was flaunting his money in anger at losing again. Yugi, however, was not about to complain.

Rustles behind him disturbed Yugi from his watch of the swaying stage curtains a little bit before the show was scheduled to begin. He briefly glanced over his shoulder to see who it was before turning back to watch the red velvet. A small girl and an older man, His companions in the box Kaiba had settled him in, took their places just as the show started. The small girl sat primly next to him, watching with eager burgundy eyes. The man sat next to her.

Anzu looked amazing under the stage lights. Of course, she had always looked amazing to him, but tonight _everyone_ could see her sparkle. The beauty he knew lay in her shone like the sun as she performed pirouettes and other assorted dance moves he did not know the name of. She was magic, a magic he had never known and he was captivated by it.

A small tug on his blazer made him reluctantly look away. Slowly he turned to gaze into Egyptian eyes. The abrupt realization of recognition hit him like a fist to the stomach as the little girl smiled a smile that sent him tumbling back into memories of real –painful – magics, of Pharaohs and evil gods, of the best friend he had ever had and gold glinting in the sun. Suddenly all the pieces fit as to why Anzu had disappeared after high school with almost agonizing clarity as Atem's child pointed towards the dancer on the stage with a tiny, dusky finger.

"My Ummu is very pretty on stage, isn't she?"

"Yes," Yugi whispered past the sudden tightness in his throat, "she's is very pretty…"

…

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Good things happen when you meet strangers.

-Yo-Yo Ma

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Normally, as Anzu exited the back stage of the theater, she would find her daughter in the care of Robert, the stage manager, happily completing one of her many little puzzles and games Anzu and others had given her over the years. The stage manager, a friend of Anzu's with little grandchildren Azeneth's age of his own, would sit by her and exclaim excitedly over the finish puzzle even though it was the hundredth such time the young girl had done so. Azeneth would then except the praise modestly, pull the puzzle apart to put it away so she could redo it later, and turn to her mother – ready to go home.

Today was different.

Today, Anzu left backstage and did not find her daughter with an elderly man. Today, she found her daughter side by side with the man she had been determined to make sure she never met – not through any fault of his own, but hers.

Yugi Motou sat next to Azeneth putting the pieces of the girls puzzle into place like he was stacking blocks, the little girl next to him joyfully handing him the pieces he asked for. Slowly, sandy Egyptian planes formed among the connected parts. Azeneth was telling Yugi that this puzzle was her favorite when the man noticed Anzu's presence. Their eyes locked and Anzu was sorely tempted to look away.

Noticing that she had lost the attention of her companion, Azeneth looked towards the distraction. When she saw that it was her mother she smiled a welcome. "Your friend, Mr. Motou, is really good with puzzles, Ummu." she enthused, casting her pretty smile back towards 'Mr. Motou'.

"He's the best at solving puzzles, sweet heart." Anzu found herself saying, never talking her eyes away from Yugi. The shift in violet eyes told her he had picked up on the double meaning of her words. Anzu was not surprised. "Will you go see what Robert's doing, please?"

"But, Ummu…"

Anzu sighed, "Please, sweet?"

Azeneth left without another word. Yugi watched her go.

"She is a lot like her father." He commented once the girl was gone. Anzu sighed again and sunk to the ground next to him, she crossed her arms – hugging herself as if she had suddenly gone cold. She could not look at him even as his hand tentatively settled on her shoulder. She had to chock back a hash laugh that threatened to break through and turn into a sob at the irony of the situation. Anzu wondered if Atem had left more than his daughter and memories behind in her.

"How did you find out?" it was stupid question, and barely more than a whisper as it slipped from her lips without her consent. To those who had known Atem, the resemblance was almost as uncanny as Yugi's own, all Yugi would have had to do was look at her.

Yugi hummed beside her pulling her against his side. "She has his eyes" was all he said. Her laugh fought free of it's confinements, a few tears staining the red carpeting beneath them.

"I never wanted you to know," she said, voice husky, " I thought that you might hate me in someway, or bare a grudge against the Pharaoh. I didn't want you to know because you might have felt obligated to claim the child as your own. I didn't want you to know because my child might besmirch your memory of the closest friend you'd ever had."

"Nothing could have made me really hate you, Anzu, you must know that. I could never have hated you - or the Pharaoh."

She shrugged, feeling the fabric of his nice blazer shift against her skin. "I was scared, Yugi."

"You don't have to be scared any more." A warm had came to cup her cheek, turning her to face him. Blue eyes met violet and Anzu's breathing stopped. Love, developed and solidified by the years, echoed in those eyes. New tears prickled and fell only to be caught by soft lips. They touched like butterfly wings in the summer against her skin, brushing down to skimp over the plump line of her mouth. He tasted of days lost and the hope of a future. It was the sweetest taste she ever knew.

"I missed you, Yugi" she mumbled against him, finger rising to grasp at the lapels of his jacket.

"As I missed you, Anzu."

He kissed her again.

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Perhaps misguided moral passion is better than confused indifference.

-Iris Murdoch

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	37. Extemporaneous

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

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Extemporaneous - Unrehearsed, improvised

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"Let Kaiba go."

Yami no Yugi's voice was dark, darker then the metal of the handgun held by ancient fingers taken from a fallen opponent. The leader of the various defeated henchmen, an older business man clad in a suit and wielding a knife, clutched the fabric at the shoulder of Seto's expensive white blazer and pressed the blade closer to the C.E.O.'s throat. The man's gaze narrowed on the gun.

"You probably don't even know how to use that." the man accused, jostling Seto slightly as he leaned forward to sneer at the King of Games. The brunette hissed has the knife drew blood. Crimson eyes flashed as Yami no Yugi cocked the gun.

"You want to try me? I learn _very_ fast."

"You wouldn't," the man insisted, " I'd kill him before the bullet would reach me."

"Ah, but killing Seto won't get you those shares will it?" the spirit questioned. The man shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of crimson eyes. The spirit knew he had hit the truth, and offered the man a way out.

"Let Kaiba go."

"And what?" the steel gray eyes of his opponent hardened with resolve, "get set to jail? No, not yet. If my life as know it is going to end, Kaiba – _sama's _life is going to end too." The blade pressed even closer to the pale skin of Seto's throat and a shot corresponded with the movement. A grin stretched a crossed Yami no Yugi's face as the man fell.

"Good Shot Mokuba."

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I know that one of the distinguishing things was I looked like I could hold a gun, even though I'd never held one before and I'm physically able to do the martial arts and all that stuff.

-Yvonne Strahovski

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Tossing his book aside with a sigh, Ryou let his head fall back against the arm of the sofa he'd been awkwardly curled up in to read. It was with practiced boredom that he studied the stucco ceiling. All summer had been like this: empty, and blurring at the edges.

The book he had been trying to read had been one he'd finished the month before. With months to go until college roiled around, he had picked up a box of classics at a local second-hand bookstore and enthusiastically set out to spend his summer indoors to avoid sunburns and catch up on an old reading list he had found when going through some old stuff. But a few classics could only last one so long, and _10,000 Leagues Under the Sea_ wasn't as good the second time reading it if one had really _just_ finished it.

Ryou sighed again and reached for his outdated cell phone. Bored enough to actually talk to other people, he flipped through the numbers in his contact list. He selected a number and held the phone to his ear. The phone ran two times before the call was answered.

"_Hello?_" Malik questioned from the other side, the wash of the sea flushing in the background.

"Hi Malik, this is Ryou Bakura – I'm a friend of Yugi's."

"_I remember_. _What do you want?_"

"I was just wondering if you were around Domino, I have a pressing need to go somewhere by boat."

"_Where?_"

"As long as it keeps me from going stagnate, anywhere."

"_I see_," Ryou could_ hear_ a smirk curl on to Malik's face, "_I think I know just the place_._ If you're up for it._"

Ryou glanced at _10,000 Leagues Under the Sea _and made a face at it. Any place that Malik could think of would be better than wasting away of boredom in his empty apartment.

"I'm up for anything."

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The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.

- Saint Augustine

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	38. Give and Go, Extricate

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

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Give and Go - A basketball maneuver; one offensive player passes the ball to another, then runs toward the basket to take a return pass.

Extricate - To release from an entanglement or difficulty; disengage.

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In the end, no matter that it had been the pharaoh that played the game; it had been Yugi that had gotten the praise. Those first few serious duels, those first few games, had been the spirit through and through. Yugi had only been a passenger along for the ride. It had not been until Pegasus that their true teamwork had been established, they had never even talked to each other before then, and their skills combined. The thought made him feel slightly guilty.

The pharaoh had done all the work. The pharaoh had won all those risky games. Not Yugi. Shouldn't the pharaoh get the credit?

Yugi pushed those thoughts aside when the spirit's laughter rang from the corner of his mind.

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It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

Harry S. Truman

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Isis blinked as something soft was shoved into her palm, velvety material brushing against her skin and fingertips. She glanced down at it, a jewelry bow, and raised a questioning gaze to her companion. Kaiba huffed irritably and looked away.

"Keep it, sell it, do whatever you want with it." He told her tersely, studiously studying the ripples in the sail of the Ishtar's boat as it swung in the breeze, "You said you wanted me to give Obelisk back to you when Battle city was over. Since I am not in the position to do so, this will have to do."

"I thought," Isis puzzled, "that you had no intention of doing so to begin with?" Kaiba just shrugged, turning away and saying over his shoulder, "Consider our acquaintance terminated.", and disappearing down the pier. She watched him go for a little while before looking down at his gift. Isis opened the box and stifled a laugh, lifting a tiny replica of the millennium necklace out of the black velvet.

"You can terminate this acquaintance, Seto, but I don't think this is the last I'll see of you."

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Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.

George Washington

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	39. Picayune, End Man

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

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Picayune** –** Trivial

End Man- The last man in a row; specif., the man at either end of the line of performers in a minstrel show

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The paper Mokuba was typing blurred before his eyes, making him blink to clear the drowsiness easing along his system and refocus on the brightly lit screen. A tired sigh fell, gusting strands of a stubborn black bang that refused to be tied back out of then back into his eyes. He raked the fringe back with a careless sweep of his hand. Staying up all night to finish this essay early may have not been his best idea.

It was an hour later, as he added the final touches, Mokuba decided to call it quits. He had just had to delete a row of continual 'f's' from the bibliography, caused by a small doze that had caught him unawares, and when you started to make those kind of mistakes it was better to just go to bed. Saving and shutting down his laptop –a gift from Seto for his birthday- Mokuba headed to bed. He promptly collapsed onto it once close enough and rolled on to his back to study the ceiling drowsily.

'_Probably not my best idea and it's a little petty_,' Mokuba re-admonished himself, _'but it will be totally worth it to see my teacher's face in the morning when I tell him I've got the assignment done already._'

Content, Mokuba fell asleep.

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But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret.

- Ronald Reagan

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They had been casually browsing a second hand store, Jounochi's favorite place because of his constantly tight budget, when he'd noticed how much Yugi had changed. Thumbing curiously through the CD section, Honda turned from the precariously stacked cases to ask the shorter male his opinion on the selection and hesitated as the young man shifted his posture to a more comfortable stance. Normally, such a simple action would not have caused Honda to pause, but as he filed away the tilted hip, shifted weight to the back leg, and the casual position of his hand on his waist, he remembered that Yugi had not done such things before the pharaoh entered their lives.

With sudden clarity, Honda realized just _how_ much his shorter friend had grown, had changed. This was no longer Yugi Motou – the kid who people though was an elementary student. This was Yugi Motou – King of games, who no one could mistake. He had been there while those changes had taken place; how had he missed it? For a moment he was regretful.

Yugi sent him a questioning glance, and Honda, realizing he'd been staring, gave him a smile.

"Don't worry, Yugi, just a little bit of nostalgia creeping up."

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Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

-Peter De Vries

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	40. Emotionalism, Enow

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

**Note: **This is the last chapter of Shuffling the Deck. Thank you all for reading and for all the support from those who enjoyed the ride!

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Emotionalism – Emotional character; emotional display

Enow- Enough

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He found her sobbing on the steps outside the school on his way to leave. The school had been mostly empty by then, habited only by teacher cleaning up after the day's class, and he had no idea how long she had been there. But she was there, she was crying. He could not leave her there.

He settled down next to her silently. He did not speak and he did not reach to touch her, but she knew he was there. He let her come to him, sniffling away her tears and leaning softly against his side. He still was silent as those tears stained the blue of his uniform jacket. It was all they needed for a good-bye.

She broke the silence.

"Thank you, Ryou."

"Your welcome, Anzu."

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You and I will meet again, when we're least expecting it, One day in some far off place, I will recognize your face, I won't say goodbye my friend, for you and I will meet again.

-Tom Petty

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They stood together and watched the world crumble. Alone in the sands, they looked on.

"It is sad, is it not," the shorter of the two said, sweeping out an arm to encompass the disaster, "how it all falls apart." The man beside him laughed, tossing back silver hair.

"It was bound to fall apart sooner later, Atem," the Thief King replied.

The Pharaoh was silent.

They stood there for a long time.

"Pity."

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This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.

-T. S. Elliot

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End file.
